Diamond World (DW) May - June 2020

SPECIAL REPORT
Green and pink fancy colour diamonds, Kunming Diamonds
dose of innovation was much needed.
Due to this pandemic, people are slowly
beginning to get creative. However, many
business owners are happy with being
busy tending to customers who are coming
in or having some enquiries. Basic pieces
were getting sold off the shelves, now
people want to think outside the box.
Some retailers are even clearing out some
of their merchandise to make room for
some sort of seminars and educational
programmes for people. ‘‘I know of a
retailer who has created a bench jeweller
concept for consumers to build, repair,
and/or polish their rings as a touch of
personalization. These are creative
ways in which retailers are expanding
beyond conventional methods,” adds
Maheshwari.
Another big setback
The Hong Kong jewellery show, one of the
biggest jewellery events in the world has
been cancelled and this is a major setback
for the jewellery market in Hong Kong. It
is a place where serious business takes
place and this will further lead to downfall
in business numbers, especially for small
and medium businesses. “Established
businesses are able to maneuver through
this crisis and conduct business through
Zoom calls because they already have a
network of clients,” says Maheshwari..
Also, dealing with a niche product like
fancy colour diamonds has given him an
edge. “There’s always been a scarcity in
natural coloured diamonds, but it’s even
more prevalent now. Being a stockist with
a global footprint, we have an advantage
in acting swiftly and delivering on time,”
he adds.
HK Government to the rescue
All said and done, the Hong Kong
government has been extremely
supportive to business owners in rolling
out financial aids and relief packages to
both small and medium scale businesses.
“They understand that the market has
been affected. They have given subsidies
and salary packages to support the
employees. They have given $9000 to
each employee in Hong Kong every
month, this will continue for 6 months,”
says Zulu Ghevriya of Prism Group.
This move has been initiated to ensure
there are no layoffs. The belief and hope
in HK’s business prowess is strong and
undeterred even with coronavirus. The
government is encouraging business to
fully go digital and they are completely
funding any digital initiative undertaken
by companies.
92 | may-june 2020 | DiamonD WorlD